Gianna Maria Canale

Gianna Maria Canale (12 September 1927 – 13 February 2009) was an Italian film actress.

Gianna Maria Canale
Canale in 1959
Born	(1927-09-12)12 September 1927 Reggio Calabria, Kingdom of Italy
Died	4 January 2009(2009-01-04) (aged 81) Sutri, Viterbo, Italy
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1946–1964
Spouse	Riccardo Freda

Biography

Canale was born in 1927 in Reggio Calabria. In 1947, she competed in the Miss Italia beauty contest, where she was runner-up to Lucia Bosè. Following this, she appeared in many Italian magazines, with her looks being compared to those of Ava Gardner.

Canale in I vampiri (1956)

Canale was offered a role in a movie by Riccardo Freda, with whom she eventually fell in love. They moved to Brazil where they were married and worked together in two movies. As Canale did not enjoy living in South America, the couple returned to Italy where, often directed by her husband, she starred in many Sword-and-sandal movies, as well as horror and adventure ones. I vampiri was her last film with Freda.

Canale retired from acting in 1964 at the age of 37. She died in Sutri, Viterbo in January 2009.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Director	Cast	Notes
1946	Black Eagle		Riccardo Freda	Rossano Brazzi, Irasema Dilián, Gino Cervi
1946	Rigoletto	Maddalena	Carmine Gallone	Tito Gobbi, Marcella Govoni, Lina Pagliughi
1948	Il cavaliere misterioso	Countess Lehmann	Riccardo Freda	Vittorio Gassman, María Mercader, Yvonne Sanson
1948	Guarany	Jacqueline	Riccardo Freda	António Vilar, Mariella Lotti
1949	Totò Le Mokò	Viviane de Valance	Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia	Totò
1949	O caçula do Barulho		Riccardo Freda	Oscarito, Grande Otelo
1949	The Iron Swordsman	Emilia	Riccardo Freda	Carlo Ninchi
1949	Il bacio di una morta	Nora O'Kira	Guido Brignone	Virginia Belmont
1950	Son of d'Artagnan	Linda	Riccardo Freda	Carlo Ninchi
1951	Double Cross	Luisetta	Riccardo Freda	Amedeo Nazzari, Vittorio Gassman
1951	Go for Broke!	Rosina	Robert Pirosh	Van Johnson
1951	Revenge of Black Eagle	Tatiana Cernicevskij	Riccardo Freda	Rossano Brazzi
1951	See Naples and Die	Marisa Meris	Riccardo Freda
1952	The Eternal Chain	Maria Raneri	Anton Giulio Majano	Marcello Mastroianni
1952	The Legend of the Piave	Contessa Giovanna Dolfin	Riccardo Freda
1953	Sins of Rome	Sabina Crassus	Riccardo Freda	Massimo Girotti, Ludmilla Tchérina
1953	The Man from Cairo	Lorraine Belogne	Ray Enright	George Raft
1953	Alarm in Morocco	Nathalie Provence	Jean Devaivre	Jean-Claude Pascal, Erich von Stroheim
1954	Theodora, Slave Empress	Theodora	Riccardo Freda	Georges Marchal
1954	Madame du Barry	Duchesse de Grammont	Christian-Jaque	Martine Carol
1954	The Shadow	Elena	Giorgio Bianchi	Märta Torén, Pierre Cressoy
1954	Madame Butterfly	Singer: Suzuki	Carmine Gallone	Kaoru Yachigusa, Nicola Filacuridi, Michiko Tanaka
1955	Napoleón	Pauline Bonaparte	Sacha Guitry	Daniel Gélin, Raymond Pellegrin, Orson Welles, Erich von Stroheim, Michèle Morgan, Danielle Darrieux, Yves Montand, Jean Gabin, Jean Marais
1955	Il coraggio	Susy Esposito	Domenico Paolella	Totò, Gino Cervi
1956	A Woman Alone	Mara	Vittorio Sala	Eleonora Rossi Drago
1956	The Lebanese Mission	Countess Athelstane Orloff	Richard Pottier	Jean-Claude Pascal, Omar Sharif, Jean Servais, Juliette Gréco
1956	Le schiave di Cartagine	Julia Martia	Guido Brignone	Jorge Mistral
1957	I Vampiri	Giselle du Grand	Riccardo Freda		Film completed by Mario Bava
1958	Pirate of the Half Moon	Infanta Caterina	Giuseppe Maria Scotese	John Derek
1958	Hercules	Antea	Pietro Francisci	Steve Reeves, Sylva Koscina
1958	The Silent Enemy	Conchita	William Fairchild	Laurence Harvey, Dawn Addams, Michael Craig
1958	The Mighty Crusaders	Armida	Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia	Francisco Rabal, Sylva Koscina, Rik Battaglia
1958	The Whole Truth	Gina Bertini	John Guillermin	Stewart Granger, Donna Reed, George Sanders
1958	The Warrior and the Slave Girl	Amira	Vittorio Cottafavi	Georges Marchal
1959	Devil's Cavaliers	Baroness Elaine of Faldone	Siro Marcellini	Frank Latimore
1960	Seven in the Sun	Libertà	Sergio Bergonzelli	Frank Latimore
1960	The Night They Killed Rasputin	Czarina Alexandra	Pierre Chenal	Edmund Purdom, John Drew Barrymore
1960	Queen of the Pirates	Sandra	Mario Costa
1960	Colossus and the Amazon Queen	Amazon Queen	Vittorio Sala	Rod Taylor, Ed Fury, Dorian Gray
1960	The Conqueror of the Orient	Dinazar / Zobeida	Tanio Boccia	Rik Battaglia
1961	The Treasure of Monte Cristo	Lucetta Di Marca	Monty Berman, Robert S. Baker	Rory Calhoun
1961	Maciste contro il vampiro	Astra	Sergio Corbucci, Giacomo Gentilomo	Gordon Scott, Jacques Sernas
1961	The Centurion	Artemide	Mario Costa	Jacques Sernas, John Drew Barrymore, Geneviève Grad, Gordon Mitchell
1962	The Slave	Claudia	Sergio Corbucci	Steve Reeves, Jacques Sernas
1962	Le Chevalier de Pardaillan	Princess Fausta Borgia	Bernard Borderie	Gérard Barray
1962	Tiger of the Seven Seas	Consuelo	Luigi Capuano	Anthony Steel
1963	The Adventures of Scaramouche	Suzanne	Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi	Gérard Barray, Michèle Girardon
1963	Il Boom	Silvia Alberti	Vittorio De Sica	Alberto Sordi
1963	The Lion of St. Mark	Rossana	Luigi Capuano	Gordon Scott, Rik Battaglia
1964	Il treno del sabato	Luisa Mancini	Vittorio Sala
1964	The Avenger of Venice	Imperia	Carlo Campogalliani, Piero Pierotti	Brett Halsey	(final film role)

External links

• Gianna Maria Canale at IMDb
• Gianna Maria Canale at MSN Movies